It has one of my favourite sci-fi premises where some mysterious event happens and the government picks up various civilian experts and forms a team to investigate. Plus the Astrophage is a great sci-fi mystery. I just wish the writing and the main character were compelling.
The plot is basically the only thing that kept me going until Rocky showed up. Not the characters and certainly not the writing. The plot or at least the twists Weir kept throwing at us was interesting. Plus I liked the deductions. The reveal that we’re in a different solar system was fun.
It was when Rocky finally showed up that I started to care about the characters. In fact, I wouldn’t mind the story from Rocky’s point of view. Rocky even makes Ryland interesting.
The ultimate solution to the Astrophage problem feels like one of those murder mysteries where the killer turns out to be an entirely new character introduced in the third act. I wish Ryland and Rocky discovered something about the Astrophage based on clues that were set up earlier rather than happening to come across a natural predator. The Taumoeba were an underwhelming solution to the mystery.
I complained about the main character earlier. I think it’s because of a few reasons. For one the amnesia mystery sets him up to be a generic hero. What makes him really interesting is only revealed towards the end. He was conscripted into this suicide mission. I wonder if I had known that from the beginning would Ryland have been more fascinating?
Another reason he was grating on me were the quips. Maybe a protagonist that approached the situation less like a Marvel hero and more like a regular person would’ve been more compelling.
Also the amnesia makes some of the early mystery in the opening chapters boring because we already know the answers, especially that we’re in space and we know the genre. So we’re waiting around for him to discover that. Only then can the plot really get going.
Once we get to Tau Ceti and discover Rocky’s ship things pick up considerably. Rocky is such an interesting character. They have been alone for 40+ years (if memory serves), continuing a mission they’re not qualified (he’s only an engineer) for the sake of his species. He’s the exact opposite of Ryland. And here’s where the amnesia plot line drags the story again. Had we already known Ryland’s backstory the narrative could’ve explored their differences and similarities.
All that said, this is still a fun read overall. Once Rocky showed up I read the whole thing in a day. It was a bit of a chore till then. I liked the ending a lot. More of a Mobius strip than a full circle.
I would’ve also liked an epilogue set on Earth.
by LeafBoatCaptain